The Pursuit of Happiness
An article by Steven C. Hayes called "What If You Didn't Need to Feel Better to Live Better?" is about not needing to feel good to be productive or carry on with your life. While there are many studies that suggests the idea to be true, there are many factors that suggests that the ideas are false.
It has been proven that people take the path of least resistance. The article discusses studies that states pursuing happiness is a toxic relationship to hold with yourself. The author discusses one study that states, "In science this process is called "experiential avoidance" or "EA" and it's one of the most toxic ways of interacting with the world. The more we begin to organize our lives around not feeling certain things, the more we numb ourselves, and the more our lives shrink" (Hayes). This is one of the studies that the article covers, it is leaning towards the idea that trying to chase happiness represses less-desirable emotions. No one wants to feel bad, and one's productivity does rely on that. If you didn't feel good or happy you won't want to go out or work, or maybe you do. How an individual processes their emotions is entirely unique to them. To challenge the authors ideas, I found a quote that comes from The Declaration of Independence that states, "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." It has always been meant for people to chase what interests them best for their happiness.
Ultimately, I understand what the author was trying to convey in their article, but I cannot say I fully agree with the points argued. If people hyper fixate being happy then yes, that'll be unhealthy and hurt productivity in their life. But the author doesn't specify that was their meaning. So being happy and having the want to be happy is healthy when practiced in moderation.
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